It’s “Cyber Monday,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. But who has money left over from this weekend? If you do, a few indie record labels are offering discounts today, including Saddle Creek (20% off). There’s no better time to buy that coveted Bright Eyes box set.

Tonight is one of the year’s biggest Thanksgiving shows that just so happens to be taking place after Thanksgiving. Tim Kasher and his crew from The Good Life are in town tonight, playing at fabulous O’Leaver’s. The band has been on the road supporting their last album, Everybody’s Coming Down (Saddle Creek, 2015).

Sayeth the band via Facebook: “Almost 3 years ago we decided it was time to write, record and tour after a 7-year break! Tonight is our last show for the foreseeable future! Please come join us one last time as we close the chapter on this incredible journey!” Who’s responsible for all those exclamation points? Roger?

Joining them is everyone’s favorite Nebraska ex-pat, Jake Bellows, and Philly/NYC band Field Mouse (Top Shelf Records). All for a mere $10. Expect a crowd. The fun starts at 9.

This being Throwback Thursday, here’s a dip into the Lazy-i Wayback Machine to 2006, a few days after Omaha’s first smoking ban went into effect. Hard to believe it’s been 10 years. There is an entire generation of music-goers who have no concept of what I’m describing in the following column from 2006, and even now it seems strange that smoking once was allowed in restaurants, and Sokol Underground (which, at the time, was the primary indie rock music venue in Omaha). The citywide smoking ban for all bars would come more than a year later.

Column 95 — The stench of rock… – Oct. 5, 2006

Just when you thought you’d heard all you care to about Omaha’s new pseudo-smoking ban that went into effect Sunday, here’s another comment, this time from the musicians’ perspective. What wasn’t pointed out in the column below was the scorecard as to where smoking is and isn’t allowed. Smoking isn’t allowed at Sokol Underground, Sokol Auditorium and Mick’s — that’s the extent of the ban’s impact. It’s still allowed for the next five years at O’Leaver’s, The 49’r and The Saddle Creek Bar. If you don’t know the rules, here’s an abbreviated explanation: Smoking is allowed in bars that don’t serve food (O’Leaver’s, The 49’r) and isn’t allowed in multi-use facilities (Sokol) or bars that serve food unless those bars offer keno (The Saddle Creek Bar). Mick’s, which doesn’t have a kitchen, voluntarily banned smoking.

Column 95: The Smell of RockIs smoking part of rock ‘n’ roll?

Before we move forward, we must understand and agree on this one conceit: Smoking holds no value in a human being’s life. None. It is not essential for your continued existence. In fact, it’s unquestionably destructive. It shaves the very essence of life away from the individuals that imbibe in its behavior.

Anyone who smokes cigarettes knows this, and has known it from the first puff. Just like those who drink bottle after bottle of beer and/or wine know that their lives are in no way being enhanced by the activity. There is no argument for drinking alcohol, especially when the endeavor taken to excess results in inebriation, loss of reasonable judgment and motor skills, and a painful hangover. Anyone who drinks knows this, and has known it from their first under-age beer.

To say that second-hand smoke is more dangerous than the secondhand effects of a drunk smashing into your car is to ignore the fact that more people are killed driving than by almost any other activity, and that a huge number of those deaths are the result of drunken driving.

That said, smoking and drinking are a part of rock and roll right along with sex and drugs. Always have been. Always will be? Who knows, but probably, in some form or another, regardless of any awkwardly developed citywide ban that says it’s okay to smoke in some bars but not in others.

Part of the experience of going to rock shows for as long as I can remember has been going home afterward and stripping off my tar and nicotine-soaked clothing so as not to contaminate the sheets before passing out, then picking up my t-shirt in the morning and smelling the previous night’s stench. Now that’s rock and roll. And it’s going to become a thing of the past, eventually.

No one knows this more than the people who make a living performing in the smoke dens, but even among them, there is no agreement that the smoking ban is good or necessary.

Take Matt Whipkey, lead singer/guitarist of Anonymous American (Who, by the way, will be releasing a new album by the end of the year). Whipkey’s down with the smoking ban. “In terms of my personal dexterity, you smell better after you get done,” he said of playing gigs in smoke-free bars. “When playing out of state or at smoke-free places like The Zoo Bar (in Lincoln), I’m not absolutely disgusting afterward.”

Whipkey says the smoking ban might even bring more people to gigs, people who have avoided going to shows because they can’t stand the smoke. “Times are changing,” he said. “You can’t do it in Minneapolis, Lawrence, New York, Madison, California or Lincoln. I assume you can’t do it in most cities. It’s just how it goes.”

And then there’s Dave Goldberg, guitarist/keyboardist/drummer/vocalist of The Terminals (Who, by the way, have a new record coming out on Cleveland’s Dead Beat Records). “It’s like taking the smut out of Time’s Square,” he said of the ban. “I’m against it. Rock and roll is supposed to be bad for you. Smoking has been a part of it since its inception. And this is coming from a non-smoker.”

Forget about the sanitized confines of a smoke-free lounge. A punk from back in the day, Goldberg prefers the grime. “I’m partial to a seedy atmosphere, and smoking is definitely part of it,” he said. “I’ve gone to blues clubs for years now, and it seems to go hand-in-hand. Smoky rock clubs — it’s almost like that’s how it should be.”

Unlike Whipkey, Goldberg thinks the ban will have a negative impact on audiences. “In Lincoln, you noticed the effects immediately,” he said of the Capitol City’s ban, which has been around for almost a year. “Duffy’s, for example, has a beer garden, and a lot of times a band will be playing to a partially full or worse-sized audience on account of everyone being outside smoking.”

The one thing Whipkey and Goldberg do agree on: Playing in smoky bars has never impacted their performance quality, or so they think. “Part of my vocal style is the accumulation of secondhand smoke caked on my lungs over the years,” Whipkey said. “Maybe now I’ll sound like a choir boy.” Let’s hope not.

Goldberg, who just finished touring the country as drummer for theater-rock legend Thor, has played in both smoke and smoke-free environments. “I’ve never noticed a difference,” he said, “but I spent a lot of time in smoky bars, perhaps I’m used to it.”

So who’s right? Smoking is indefensible. Banning it in clubs like Sokol Underground will only save lives and keep my clothes and hair smelling better after a night of noise. But you know what? I’m still going to miss it. — Lazy-i, Oct. 5, 2006

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Yeah, well, guess what, I don’t.

Back to the future….

Today The Good Life released via Stereogram (here) a new track recorded during the Everbody’s Coming Down sessions called “Are You Afraid of Dying?” The Good Life hits the road with Jake Bellows beginning early next month for a tour that concludes Nov. 28 at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Speaking of outtakes, here’s another one from the same sessions that dropped last month (and that somehow I missed):

Peach Kelli Pop is Canadian Allie Hanlon and four other women playing jangling, abrasive, driving straight-four beach-flavored punk rock that sounds like go-carts and too much coffee. On the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it LP, Peach Kelli Pop III (2015, Burger Records), Hanlon and her band race through 10 songs in just over 20 minutes — simple math tells you that averages about two minutes per song, just long enough for punk rock. Popular themes are video games, Chinese food and conspiracy theorists as well as the usual songs of love.

We caught up with Hanlon and asked her to take our Ten Questions survey. Here’s what she had to say:

1. What is your favorite album?

Allie Hanlon: Red Cross’ s/t EP, released 1980

2. What is your least favorite song?

“(You’re) Having my Baby” by Paul Anka

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Free stuff! Just kidding, I like going on adventures, traveling and playing music with 4 really cool girls.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

Having your work and time constantly devalued. Also rude sound people

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Ice-cream & fancy cheese

6. In what city or town do you love to perform?

Tokyo, Japan will always be #1.

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

Our shows in Nashville have sucked the last few years, so we stopped playing there. On tour in Europe last fall, we played a show in France where we were playing on the floor, with some drunk, confrontational people inches from my face during our entire set. They spilled beer all over my pedals. I don’t condone violence, but I was ready throw down.

8. How do you pay your bills?

Usually via credit card over the phone.

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

Canine massage therapist or a psychic. I think I’d be a great aerobics instructor as well. I would hate being a meter maid or having any profession involving sales.

10. What are the stories you’ve heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

Growing up in Ottawa, Canada, I didn’t know anything about Omaha, NE. I learned about Saddle Creek Records and its bands, which were really influential when I was a little teen, and became more familiar. The rich music history makes Omaha stand out. I also heard that 311 is from Omaha which is pretty cool.

Peach Kelli Pop plays with The Way Out Wednesday, May 25, at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Tickets are $8, showtime is 9 p.m. For more information, go to onepercentproductions.com.

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One of the biggest shows of the month is happening tonight at The Waiting Room where The Good Life kicks off its latest tour in support of their 2015 Saddle Creek release, Everybody’s Coming Down. That alone is worth the price of admission, but then you add indie superstars Speedy Ortiz and you’ve got yourself a monster of a show. But wait, there’s more. Local indie rockers Oquoa are opening the show. All this entertainment for a mere $15. The show starts at 9 p.m.

Yesterday, Hear Nebraska announced that The Good Life will be the headliner on the first three dates of this year’s Good Living Tour. Finally the fine folks in Kearney, Grand Island and — yes, frickin’ Ord, Nebraska — will get to experience Tim Kasher’s dangerous hip-sways up-close-and-personal.

Sayeth The Kasher: “Hear Nebraska has charmed us with the reminder that Nebraska is far greater than just Omaha and Lincoln; I’m ecstatic to cruise along those highways less taken to revisit towns and cities I haven’t been to in awhile.” Or ever, Tim. Let’s be honest. Well, maybe Ord.

Other big names on this year’s Good Living Tour include See Through Dresses, Twinsmith, Clarence Tilton, Mezcal Brothers, Conchance and perennial Dwight Yoakam opening act Matt Whipkey, who will give Grant, Nebraska, population 1,137, an experience it’ll never forget.

Full lineup and schedule is at goodlivingtour.com. The whole thing kicks off July 21 in Ord. Gas up and go.

The Good Living Tour has become Hear Nebraska’s marquee event, a true outreach program that brings the music we take for granted to locations that rarely get a chance to see and hear live ORIGINAL music. There’s a lot of good reasons behind the Good Living Tour; maybe the best is that these concerts could inspire folks to pick up an instrument and make some music of their own…

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Walker Lukens plays The Slowdown April 20.

Austin’s Walker Lukens sings rock songs with a swagger, a swoon, a velvet edge that cuts through a retro-fueled funk like Frankie Valli with a shiv. His music struts, it sneers as Walker sings his stories about life and love in the big city.

On his one-sheet, they say he’s been compared to Nilsson (slightly off the mark), to Tom Waits (not sure why) and Pavement (a real head scratcher there). A closer comparison would be to Britt Daniel, which makes sense because lately Lukens has been working with Spoon’s Jim Eno, who (were told) is producing an upcoming Lukens album called Tell It to the Judge. No doubt you’ll be hearing song off that anticipated record when Lukens plays at The Slowdown Wednesday, April 20.

I threw down the Ten Questions gauntlet for Walker, and he crashed through it with great panache. Here’s what he had to say:

1. What is your favorite album?

Walker Lukens: If Tusk and Bone Machine were mashed up that would be my favorite record.

2. What is your least favorite song?

“Piano Man” rivaled closely by “American Pie.” Even when I’m in my car or at home, the opening notes of either song have me asking for the check.

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Performing alone is like playing tennis against a wall. Who wants to watch someone play with themselves? Who can blame a singer for, after a while, letting the ball hit him in the head just to feel something different?

Playing with a group is like being on a rowing team. The song is the boat. The audience, the water. The band, the oarsmen. At best, I’m Washington standing at the bow in Scott Stapp pose, one foot on the monitor. Triumphant only by the grace of ye oarsmen. At worst, at least I don’t have to pretend to like tennis.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

I hate letting down my band. I hate group texting.

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

I’m not gonna tell you how much I like molly unless you ensure that my mom can’t read this.

6. In what city or town do you love to perform?

Frankly, I like any town where more than 30 people come to the venue where I’m playing and stay through the set. City I like to play where the audiences are nonexistent? Memphis. City I like to play where the audiences are great but the city is subpar? Dallas. Awesome small town? Hot Springs, Ark.

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

I’ve played so many awful shows, you wouldn’t believe. Once, I brought a full band to play a coffee shop in Boone, New Hampshire, that in addition to not disclosing before arriving that they didn’t have a PA, didn’t want any music that required a PA. Once, I played at a venue in Mississippi so poorly grounded that I got shocked every time I sang. The only remedy in the given timeframe was putting the sound guy’s dirty sock onto the microphone.

8. How do you pay your bills?

I don’t walk out of gigs like the ones above. I teach. I fill excel spreadsheets full of data for hourly pay. I hang posters. I accept all free lunch offers.

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

I would love to be a travel writer. I would hate to own a music venue.

10. What are the stories you’ve heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

All of my favorite bands from high school were from Omaha, so in a weird way I feel like I know lots of stories about Omaha. (Is Omaha on a Wednesday night going to feel like Wet From Birth?)

If you’re like me you’ve probably been sitting around wondering to yourself, “Whatever happened to Buckethead?” Well, you can find out tonight when the guy with the bucket on his head returns to The Waiting Room. No opening act listed, just Buckethead all. night. long. Show starts at 8 p.m., $25.

After last week’s barrage of news I’m scraping to fill an update this week.

Let’s start with this new Love Drunk video featuring The Good Life performing “Flotsam Locked Into a Groove” of the band’s last album, Everybody’s Coming Down. The video was shot on Slowdown’s big stage last November. This info comes courtesy of Roger Lewis, who says he’s in Iceland (presumably visiting Bjork?) before heading to Europe to start the band’s next tour alongside Big Harp. It just never ends.

What else…

One Percent Productions came out with their weekly shows announcement. Notable among the new listings are Foxing March 3 at Slowdown, Kurt Vile and the Violators April 9 at The Waiting Room and Brian Jonestown Massacre May 15 at The Waiting Room.

Brooklyn Vegan reported that Anton Newcombe and Co. are spending a month stateside including an appearance at Levitation Festival in Austin April 29-May 1. Perhaps an alternative to SXSW?

Also playing Levitation is the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, performing Pet Sounds, and it just so happens that Mr. Wilson also will be rolling through our area, playing Stir Cove July 17. Tix go on sale Friday.

Feels like a Saturday, doesn’t it? The holidays will do that to you, especially if you have the day off.

Lots o’ shows going on this weekend. Let’s get right to it…

Expect a nutso crowd at The Brothers Lounge tonight for a reunion of Capgun Coup. Today as in 2004 when the band first got rolling, Sam Martin, Greg Elsasser and the rest of the crew were/are on the verge of something. Find out what that “something” is tonight. Joining them is hip-hop crew M34N STR33T. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight at brand new all-ages rock venue Milk Run there’s a three-band bill featuring Lincoln band Domestica — consider it a christening of the club as only Jon and Heidi can. Also on the bill are The Morbs (Lincoln indie-pop trio featuring members of Manic Pixie Dream Girls) and Relax, It’s Science (Jeremy Stanosheck and Co.). $5, 9 p.m.

Read more about Milk Run in my detailed interview with the club’s proprietors, Chris Aponick and Sam Parker, and watch this interview from Hear Nebraska.

Speaking of reunions, Matt Whipkey and the boys of Anonymous American reunite at The Barley Street Tavern tonight. The band, which also features Wayne Brekke, Bobby Carrig and Corey Weber, hit its stride with the 2004 self-release of When the Drummer Counts to Four. Opening is Travelling Mercies. $5, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night is all about The Good Life at The Slowdown main room. Consider it a victory lap for the band whose been touring on and off since the release of Everybody’s Coming Down (Saddle Creek, 2015) this past August. Read about the record here. It’s a star-studded bill with the return of Big Harp, whose new cassette Waveless (Majestic Litter, 2015) is a career high-water mark. If that wasn’t enough to get you to Slowdown, the hottest Omaha band of 2015, High Up, opens. $13, 9 p.m.

Also going on Saturday night, Ocean Black (the band formerly known as Nightbird) headlines at O’Leaver’s. Joining them are Laughing Falcon and Montee Men (Matt Baum and Co.). $6, 9:30 p.m.

And John Klemmensen and the Party headlines at Lookout Lounge, 320 So. 72nd Street. Also on the bill are Anthems, Low Long Signal and Super Ghost. $5, 9 p.m.

Consider Sunday a day of rest.

That’s what I got for this weekend. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a frosty weekend.

The Pitchfork review for The Good Life’s new album, Everybody’s Coming Down went online today. The album scored a lowly rating of 4.4. The review compares the record mostly against past Kasher material rather than considering it on its own merits. That, of course, is the writer’s prerogative, and the obvious past-time for any critic who has been following Kasher’s work throughout his career.

Needless to say, he didn’t like the record, as he concludes:

But whether it’s Cursive or Good Life or Tim Kasher, it’s all sitcom at this point, his version of “Mulaney” or “Mr. Robinson”—a barely fictionalized, deadened version of his own life starring him. Or, ‘Shit Tim Says”.

I had to Google “Mulaney” and “Mr. Robinson” to figure out what he was talking about. I guess someone watches those teevee shows after all. Consider that when you read the review, here.

The record has been scoring better reviews from other sites as a whole. Consequences of Sound gave the record a “B,” concluding: “In a word, it’s a human album. Kasher doesn’t pretend to make sense of all the things he sings about. But in the act of trying not to ignore life’s absurd anomalies, to make as much sense as any one person can, he finds solace.” Read that review here.

While that old standby All Music gave it 3.5 stars (here), saying “Everybody’s Coming Down is ultimately engaging if meandering, and at its heart — whatever the style — is memorable, energized songwriting.”

And Exclaim gave the album an impressive 8 out of 10 (here), saying, “Everybody’s Coming Down feels both focused and purposeful, something not all albums can lay claim to after a band’s nearly decade-long absence.”

My take: It rocks. Check it out for yourself.

* * *

The Fat Wreck Chords tour rolls into town tonight at The Slowdown (in the big room). On the bill: Lagwagon, Strung Out, Swingin’ Utters, The Flatliners, toyGuitar and Bad Cop/Bad Cop. That’s a ton of punk for $25. Show starts at 7.

Maybe it’s because Maha is Saturday, but it’s a dead week show-wise. I mean nothing’s going on (unless there’s a show under the radar I don’t know about (which is very possible)).

That lack of shows allows you to scratch together $50 for your Maha ticket. I’ve had three people in the past three days contact me via the internet asking what the Maha set schedule is — three people who apparently don’t know how to use the internet, because the Maha set schedule has been at mahamusicfestival.com for weeks now.

So for those lazy few unwilling to click the above link and scroll down, here’s this year’s Maha Music Festival set schedule:

I’m told there may be a secret “special guest” joining The Jayhawks, whose set is pretty early in the day. In fact, my favorite band of the festival — Alvvays — plays right before The Jayhawks at 2:05 p.m., and indie darling Ex-Hex is right before that. At first blush you might say, “I would have scheduled both those bands later in the day,” but perhaps Maha has finally taken my advice and scheduled a couple quality national bands early in an effort to get people to Stinson Park earlier in the day. Now let’s hope the heat index is somewhere below 100 degrees.

Maha today sent out a press release that lists this year’s food and booze vendors. Not a bad selection (though I would have loved to see LaCasa on the list):

The Good Life have a prime slot at Maha, going on at 8 p.m. The band’s new album, Everybody’s Coming Down, is being streamed in its entirety at Stereogum (but actually on YouTube, below). Listen to the whole damn thing prior to its Aug. 14 drop date and read about the album in my interview with the band.

My feature story/interview with members of The Good Life for The Reader is on newsstands now and online right here. The band talks about their return, their new record (and what it means) and where the band fits in today’s music.

He pointed to a number of Omaha bands influenced by ’90s rock, such as Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship and See Through Dresses. The difference between The Good Life playing “120-Minutes-style” alternative rock versus those bands, Kasher said, is “we’re actually from that era.”

Read the rest here. Everybody’s Coming Down really is a great album and a departure for the band. As described in the article, there’s virtually no acoustic instruments on this record. It rocks more than any past Good Life record and as much as any Cursive album, though it’s not nearly as abrasive. Favorite tracks are “The Troubadour’s Green Room,” “Everybody,” “Holy Shit” and closer “Midnight Is Upon Us,” but it’s all good, and in some ways, more cohesive than a typical “concept album.” Read about it.

BTW, The Good Life kicks off their international tour at this year’s Maha Music Festival Aug. 15. Tickets are still available (for now). Kasher chimes in on Maha in my Over the Edge column in this month’s Reader. Look for it on newsstands, or wait ’til the column goes on line later this week…

* * *

Holly Miranda returns to Omaha tonight, this time to The Slowdown. I interviewed Miranda (via email) five years ago in support of a show at The Waiting Room. The inspirational line from that story:

…Miranda did say how much success in the music business depends on talent and how much depends on lucky breaks and Kanye flukes. “You’ll need a LOT of both, and a strong sense of self,” she replied. “If you don’t know who you are in this industry, someone else is going to tell you who you are and they probably won’t get it quite right.”

No kidding. Read the rest of story from March 2010 here. Toronto’s Marnie Herald opens. $10, 8 p.m.

I’ve been interviewing members of Desaperacidos since the band first formed way back in 2001. The guys have a new album called Payola, which came out on Epitaph last month, that just happens to be No. 14 in the College Music Journal top-20. With a show coming up Sept. 10 at The Waiting Room (which, btw, is bound to sell out, so if you want to go, you better get your $20 tix now), it would seem like an opportune moment to interview the band again.

However, I’m not sure what I’d ask the band that didn’t get covered in technicolor in this Noisey interview with Dan Ozzi that dropped today with the headline ‘Desaparecidos didn’t give a fuck back then and they don’t give a fuck now.’ In it, Conor Oberst and Matt Baum give candid, straightforward answers to questions that I probably would have asked, such as “Why did you go with Epitaph instead of Saddle Creek?” “What’s wrong with journalism these days?” and “Why has public opinion (in this case, Pitchfork) about Desa changed over the past 12 years?”

Perhaps the most controversial answer in the interview involves Saddle Creek:

You guys are so strongly associated with Saddle Creek. Why did you decide to go with Epitaph on this one?

Conor: Well, the Saddle Creek thing has been kind of unraveling for a long time. They’re still our friends, and I’ve definitely got no ill will. When the label started when we were all kids, it was very much a collective thing. I’m talking way back in like, ’93, ’94. The record label honestly started with me and our friend Ted Stevens, who plays in Cursive, and my brother Justin, and we started in my parents’ attic making Kinko’s copies of record sleeves. Anyway, the collective aspect sort of fell to the wayside and it became more of a regular business and certain peoples’ names ended up on the paperwork and other people’s didn’t and it… I don’t know. After years, it kind of soured a little bit and we happened to go our own way. I wish all of them the best, but we knew we weren’t gonna do it with them and we started talking about what label would make sense with our band, and what’s the label we respect, and can get it out there, and Epitaph was the very first one that…

OK, wow. There’s no question that Saddle Creek V.2015 is a lot different than Saddle Creek V.2001. The only artist from the label’s original “crown jewels” that’s stuck around is Cursive/Tim Kasher. Not sure what “certain peoples’ names ended up on the paperwork and other people’s didn’t…” means, but I can venture a guess, especially if things “soured a little bit…” Certainly Oberst and Co. didn’t go to Epitaph because it’s some sort of “collective” (’cause it ain’t).

Anyway, after I read this interview (and there have been countless others recently) I wondered what’s the point of pursuing an interview of my own? What could I ask that hasn’t already been asked? Just read these ones if you want to know what’s happening with the band.

That said, if anyone from the band wants some press in ol’ Lazy-i (and thereader.com), I’d love to shoot the shit with them…

BTW, Desaparecidos starts their next tour tomorrow in Indianapolis. Digital Leather opens that show along with the show the following night in St. Louis.

* * *

Speaking of crown jewels, here’s yet another new song off The Good Life’s upcoming album, Everybody’s Coming Down, out Aug. 14 on Saddle Creek Records.

* * *

We all know MarQ Manner, even some of you readers who don’t live in Omaha. MarQ is sort of the ex officio mayor of Benson and a strong supporter of bands that haunt Maple Street’s liquor corridor. While MarQ and I don’t always share the same taste in music, I pay attention when he goes ga-ga over anyone other than Prince (to which I’m already a fan). Kind of like he did with Sturgill Simpson.

I don’t follow country music, but I must say Simpson puts a modern face on a traditional approach to C&W that is hard to resist, even on first listen. Which is a round-about way of saying MarQ is right about this guy; he is special, and he’s playing tonight at Sokol Auditorium. So dust off your cowboy boots and scoot on down at 8, when opener Cody Jinks starts things off. Tix are $25.